²“Do you see all these things?” Jesus asked. “What I’m about to tell you is true. Not one stone here will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.”

³Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. There the disciples came to him in private. “Tell us,” they said. “When will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of the end?”

⁴Jesus answered, “Keep watch! Be careful that no one fools you. ⁵Many will come in my name. They will claim, ‘I am the Christ!’ They will fool many people.

⁶“You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don’t be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn’t here. ⁷Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. People will go hungry. There will be earthquakes in many places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then people will hand you over to be treated badly and killed. All nations will hate you because of me. ¹⁰At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies. ¹¹Many false prophets will appear. They will fool many people. ¹²Because evil will grow, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world. It will be a witness to all nations. Then the end will come.

¹⁵“The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ Someday you will see it standing in the holy place. The reader should understand this. ¹⁶Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. ¹⁷No one on the roof should go down into his house to take anything out. ¹⁸No one in the field should go back to get his coat. ¹⁹How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! ²⁰Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on the Sabbath day. ²¹There will be terrible suffering in those days. It will be worse than any other from the beginning of the world until now. And there will never be anything like it again. ²²If the time had not been cut short, no one would live. But because of God’s chosen people, it will be shortened.

²³“At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ Or, ‘There he is!’ Do not believe it. ²⁴False Christs and false prophets will appear. They will do great signs and miracles. They will try to fool God’s chosen people if possible. ²⁵See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶“So if anyone tells you, ‘He is far out in the desert,’ do not go out there. Or if anyone says, ‘He is deep inside the house,’ do not believe it. ²⁷Lightning that comes from the east can be seen in the west. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸The vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.

²⁹“Right after the terrible suffering of those days,

“ ‘The sun will be darkened.

The moon will not shine.

The stars will fall from the sky.

The heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations on earth will be sad. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky. He will come with power and great glory. ³¹He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his chosen people from all four directions. They will bring them from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³In the same way, when you see all those things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door. ³⁴What I’m about to tell you is true. The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Are Not Known

³⁶“No one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.

³⁷“Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes.

³⁸“In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes.

⁴⁰“Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left.

⁴²“So keep watch. You do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³You must understand something. Suppose the owner of the house knew what time of night the robber was coming. Then he would have kept watch. He would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him.

⁴⁵“Suppose a master puts one of his servants in charge of the other servants in his house. The servant’s job is to give them their food at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise servant for this. ⁴⁶It will be good for the servant if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns. ⁴⁷What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will put that servant in charge of everything he owns.

⁴⁸“But suppose that servant is evil. Suppose he says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time.’ ⁴⁹Suppose he begins to beat the other servants. And suppose he eats and drinks with those who drink too much. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come back on a day the servant doesn’t expect him. He will return at an hour the servant does not know. ⁵¹Then the master will cut him to pieces. He will send him to the place where pretenders go. There people will sob and grind their teeth.

The Story of Ten Bridesmaids

25“Here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like at that time. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. ²Five of them were foolish. Five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any olive oil with them. ⁴The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The groom did not come for a long time. So the bridesmaids all grew tired and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight someone cried out, ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷“Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’

⁹“ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There may not be enough for all of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil. Buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“So they went to buy the oil. But while they were on their way, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding dinner. Then the door was shut.

¹¹“Later, the other bridesmaids also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. I don’t know you.’

¹³“So keep watch. You do not know the day or the hour that the groom will come.

The Story of Three Servants

¹⁴“Again, here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like. A man was going on a journey. He sent for his servants and put them in charge of his property. ¹⁵He gave $10,000 to one. He gave $4,000 to another. And he gave $2,000 to the third. The man gave each servant the amount of money he knew the servant could take care of. Then he went on his journey.

¹⁶“The servant who had received the $10,000 went at once and put his money to work. He earned $10,000 more. ¹⁷The one with the $4,000 earned $4,000 more. ¹⁸But the man who had received $2,000 went and dug a hole in the ground. He hid his master’s money in it.

¹⁹“After a long time the master of those servants returned. He wanted to collect all the money they had earned. ²⁰The man who had received $10,000 brought the other $10,000. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you trusted me with $10,000. See, I have earned $10,000 more.’

²¹“His master replied, ‘You have done well, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²²“The man with $4,000 also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you trusted me with $4,000. See, I have earned $4,000 more.’

²³“His master replied, ‘You have done well, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴“Then the man who had received $2,000 came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid. I went out and hid your $2,000 in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶“His master replied, ‘You evil, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not planted? You knew that I gather crops where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money in the bank. When I returned, I would have received it back with interest.’

²⁸“Then his master commanded the other servants, ‘Take the $2,000 from him. Give it to the one who has $20,000. ²⁹Everyone who has will be given more. He will have more than enough. And what about anyone who doesn’t have? Even what he has will be taken away from him. ³⁰Throw that worthless servant outside. There in the darkness, people will sob and grind their teeth.’

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹“The Son of Man will come in all his glory. All the angels will come with him. Then he will sit on his throne in the glory of heaven. ³²All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate the people into two groups. He will be like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep to his right and the goats to his left.

³⁴“Then the King will speak to those on his right. He will say, ‘My Father has blessed…

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